"Politics the Game" Described

Mr. J. Lincoln Steffens, author of "The Shame of the Cities," delivered a very interesting lecture in the Living Room of the Union last evening on "Politics the Game." He described the corruption which pervades our municipal, State, and Federal governments.

The way to find "graft," said Mr. Steffens, is to go to a "grafter" for it. The board of aldermen in every city of the country are corrupt, and betray the confidence of the people whom they represent. The American government no longer represents the whole nation, but only its worst and most unscrupulous part.

Two methods of reform have been proposed: by business, and by labor. The former is absolutely useless, for business is as rotten as politics. There is the same kind of treason in the insurance companies as in the legislature. Labor is equally unfitted for reform; the San Francisco labor government is as corrupt as any business enterprise. The old game of politics, the kind that Mr. Roosevelt plays, is one of compromise. The politician bought his position and kept it. Now the political aspirant should promise to follow out a definite program and make others promise and keep their word. The college man with a knowledge of economics should follow these rules and wrest the power from the agents of corruption.